St Mary’s Inn

St Mary’s Inn occupies a clocktower-topped redbrick building with mullioned windows that was formerly the administrative centre of a sprawling hospital campus. Now part of a modern residential estate off the A1 south of Morpeth, the inn is well-placed for visiting nearly Northumberlandia, a landscape sculpted to resemble a vast female lying back and staring up at the sky, and Whitehouse Farm Centre, an attraction aimed at families.

The inn has 11 airy yet comfortable bedrooms whose décor mixes modern fittings and vintage furniture. Original works by local artists provide colour and character. The bathrooms feature Grohe fittings and Villeroy and Bosch porcelain. For an additional charge, dogs are welcome to stay. The rooms are quiet despite being above a sizable pub and restaurant.

Public areas downstairs feature wood-burning stoves, parquet flooring and farmhouse style tables in high-ceilinged rooms typical of those in early-20th century buildings. Temporary art exhibitions often adorn wall space. The result is a welcoming place to enjoy a pint of locally brewed beer or glass of wine before or with a meal.

St Mary’s Inn has established a reputation as a gastropub because of the quality of its food. Pub favourites such as burgers and fish and chips feature on the menu. So too do the likes of cheese souffle and butternut squash risotto.

Breakfasts are hearty. Sausage or bacon sandwiches made with stottie cake, a local flatbread, are options alongside the likes of a fry-up or Eggs Benedict.